{"id":4759,"date":"2026-09-17T13:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T17:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.groupesl.com\/en\/news\/soutien-informatique-pme-couts\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:35:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:35:45","slug":"it-support-for-smbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.groupesl.com\/en\/news\/it-support-for-smbs\/","title":{"rendered":"IT support for SMBs: how to control costs during growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A growing SMB will quickly see its technology needs increase. More employees mean more workstations, accounts, software, access permissions and inevitably more technical support requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, immediately hiring a full-time IT resource is not always necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An IT support model for SMBs<\/strong> provides access to external expertise based on the company\u2019s actual needs. This approach helps control costs while giving teams the resources they need to continue working efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do IT costs increase as an SMB grows?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Growth gradually adds complexity to the technology environment. A company with 15 employees generally does not have the same needs as an organization with 50, 100 or 200. Each new hire may require a computer, licences, user accounts, secure access and the configuration of various work tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needs can also increase during an office move, the opening of a new location, the deployment of new software or a transformation project. Add to that everyday incidents such as connectivity issues, faulty workstations, software that no longer works as expected, access problems or equipment that needs to be replaced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question then becomes: how can you meet these new needs without IT costs growing faster than the business?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiring internally is not always the first solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When support requests increase, the first instinct may be to hire. This decision can make sense when the workload justifies a permanent resource. But it also represents an ongoing financial commitment. For an IT technician position, the median wage in Quebec<\/a> is $30.77 per hour, or approximately $60,000 per year for full-time work, before payroll costs, benefits, equipment and training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For an SMB with fluctuating needs, another approach is to supplement its resources with external expertise. The company can access technical skills when needed without necessarily adding a permanent position to its structure right away. This flexibility can be particularly valuable during periods of rapid growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outsource to better align costs with your needs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

IT outsourcing<\/strong> allows certain responsibilities to be assigned to a specialized partner such as Groupe SL. The goal is not necessarily to outsource everything. An SMB can choose which responsibilities it wants to keep in-house and where external expertise can provide greater value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach makes it easier to manage fluctuations in demand. During quieter periods, needs may be limited. During a major project, a wave of hiring or a technology change, they can increase quickly. An external resource from a partner such as Groupe SL makes it easier to adjust technical capacity to meet these changing needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduce the hidden cost of downtime<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The cost of a technology issue goes beyond the price of resolving it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider an employee who cannot access an essential tool for several hours. During that time, their productivity decreases. They may also ask a colleague or manager to help troubleshoot the problem. A relatively simple incident can then take up the time of several people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those hours have a cost. In a U.S. survey of 715 SMBs<\/a>, 37% of respondents estimated the cost of a single hour of downtime at between US$1,000 and US$5,000 and 8% estimated it at more than US$25,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a larger scale, an outage affecting a network, application or multiple workstations can disrupt a significant portion of operations. Effective IT support<\/strong> therefore also aims to limit these indirect costs. The more efficiently an issue is handled, the sooner employees can return to their responsibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Avoid turning employees into the company\u2019s IT technicians<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In many SMBs, the first IT problems naturally fall to the person who \u201cknows the most about computers.\u201d This approach can work when the company is very small. However, it becomes less effective as the organization grows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A manager, developer, controller or administrative employee should not regularly spend part of their day solving technology problems for colleagues. Even if they manage to resolve the issue, their time is being diverted from work that creates greater value for the business. Structuring IT support helps put these responsibilities in the hands of the right resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access multiple areas of expertise without multiplying hires<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Modern technology environments span multiple disciplines. Workstations, networks, Microsoft 365, servers, cloud services, backups, access management and cybersecurity all require different skills. It can therefore be difficult to expect a single internal resource to have the same level of expertise in every area. An IT partner provides access to a broader pool of expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the issue or project, the business can access the right expertise without immediately having to build a complete in-house team. For a growing SMB, this capability can make an important difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When should an SMB consider external IT resources?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is no need to wait for a major outage. Certain signs may indicate that an organization is beginning to outgrow its current model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technical requests are piling up. Employees are troubleshooting their own problems. One internal employee becomes the point of contact for every technology question even though it is not their role. Projects are delayed because of limited resources. New hires are rapidly increasing the IT workload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An external resource can also be useful during specific periods, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n